Field of dreams gets name that will
please
From staff and ECU
reports
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Keith LeClair congratulates a
player during East Carolina's run to the NCAA regional championship
in Wilson during the 2001 season. After stepping down the
following year due to failing health,
he penned 35 baseball columns
for Bonesville.net before concentrating his writing efforts on
Christian devotionals. (AP Archives Photo) |
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Less than two months
before East Carolina's soon-to-be-finished new baseball stadium hosts
its first game, the facility's name has been decided. ECU's field of
dreams will be known as Clark-LeClair Stadium.
In a Friday announcement,
the ECU Educational Foundation, also known as the Pirate Club, revealed
that the stadium's name will honor businessman and longtime school
supporter Bill Clark and former Pirate baseball coach Keith LeClair.
Clark owns Bill Clark
Homes in Greenville and is the developer of major real estate properties
in other cities in North and South Carolina.
LeClair,
a member of the ECU Athletics Hall of Fame,
launched the Pirates to an unprecedented level of sustained success on
the diamond before stepping down after the 2002 season because of the
effects of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig's
Disease.
In making the
announcement, the Pirate Club also acknowledged publicly for the first
time that Clark was the biggest financial benefactor behind the $10
million stadium with the commitment of a $1.5 million gift.
Word of Clark's generosity
had spread within the ECU community in recent months, leading to
speculation among supporters of the baseball program about the naming of
the facility.
The name chosen is likely
to please a substantial majority of those fans.
Clark is regarded as a
pillar in both the ECU and Greenville communities, while LeClair, a
principle visionary in conceiving the stadium, permanently cemented his
place in Pirate sports lore with his team's exploits on the field and
his subsequent inspirational and ongoing battle against ALS.
During LeClair's tenure as
coach (1997-2002), he earned positive and enduring notoriety among ECU
fans for discarding the notion that reaching postseason play was the
pinnacle of the program's goals. The Pirates were shooting for the
College World Series in Omaha, NE, he proclaimed.
The Pirate Club, which
formally initiated the fund-raising campaign for the new facility in
2001, noted in its announcement that the stadium "will eternally bear
the name of 'Clark-LeClair Stadium.' "
In a statement
accompanying the Pirate Club's announcement, LeClair expressed gratitude
for the tribute and indicated a desire that the facility be a timeless
testament to ECU baseball, past and present.
"My family and I are
honored and overwhelmed to have our name next to Bill Clark's family on
the new stadium," stated LeClair. "They have been so generous to our
family the past three years during this difficult time in our lives and
we sincerely appreciate all that they have done.
"I truly hope that when
people see the LeClair name on the stadium, that it represents all ECU
coaches and players of the past and present and all the great tradition
this baseball program was built on. I am truly honored and blessed for
this opportunity and I want to thank all the supporters that made this
dream of building a stadium a reality."
LeClair compiled a
won-lost record of 212-96-1 during his five-year stint, leading the
Pirates to the NCAA Tournament his last four seasons, including three
times as a No. 1 regional seed. In his final campaign, ECU qualified as
Conference USA champions.
Clark, who has a lengthy
track record of benevolence to ECU causes, indicated that his
appreciation of LeClair's contributions to Pirate baseball factored into
his decision to financially back the stadium.
"One of the reasons why I
wanted to support this project was to get Keith's name on the stadium as
it should be," Clark said in a statement. "I'm not sure one person has
done as much for one individual sport as Keith has for our baseball
program. I wanted there to be a legacy for Keith at ECU, something which
would qualify the character that he has.
"This will be a giant step
in realizing Keith's dream of the Pirates going to Omaha. It's a great
advantage to host regionals and super regionals in your own park.
Obviously, there's a much better chance to win those tournaments at home
and be in a position to go on to Omaha."
In addition to operating
his Greenville firm, Clark is the developer of residential communities
in Raleigh, Wilmington and Myrtle Beach. He and his wife, Gloria, are
the parents of three sons, Hunter, Lance and Heath. Heath Clark is a
former baseball player at ECU.
Randy Mazey, a former
LeClair assistant who has posted an 85-40 record since succeeding his
one-time boss as head coach of the Pirates, thanked Clark and others for
their contributions and pointedly noted that Omaha, the Mecca of college
baseball, is still the program's intended destination.
"Our baseball program is
very appreciative of the gift that Mr. Clark and his family has given
us, as well as all of the people who have contributed, not just
financially, but with their undying support of our baseball program,"
stated Mazey. "Our baseball facility will now be one of the finest in
the nation, and I think that the future of East Carolina Baseball is
very bright. This new stadium will just bring us one step closer to
achieving our goal of playing in the College World Series."
Clark-LeClair Stadium is
scheduled to open March 4, 2005 when the Pirates open their season
against Michigan in the opening game of the Second Annual Keith LeClair
Classic.
The Pirate Club has raised
$9 million in private support to construct the facility, which has a
price-tag in excess of $10 million.
02/23/07 11:21 AM
©2005
Bonesville.net. All
rights rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Bonesville.net contributed to this report. An
ECU Athletics press release was used in
compiling this report.
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